3 deaths, about 20 ODs reported; city gets 700 doses of Narcan

Published 5:19 pm, Friday, June 24, 2016

New Haven Assistant Fire Chief

Media: New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN >> There is a lethal mix of drugs circulating in the city’s streets and officials say they’re not sure what it is, despite an estimated 20 overdoses and three deaths believed to be connected to the drugs.

Dr. Gail D’Onofrio, medical director of emergency medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital, said people in the community who are using opioids and cocaine should avoid the drugs at every cost.

“This is not what you’ve seen before. You can’t say that you know how much to take. This is unknown. It does not have an FDA approval on it. It does not have a dosing range. So everyone needs to be careful and not use it,” D’Onofrio said Friday during a press conference at New Haven police headquarters.

The state Department of Public Health sent 700 doses of Narcan, the opioid overdose antidote, to the city to assist with the emergency as supplies here were depleted.

There were at least 16 and likely 20 or more heroin and/or cocaine poisonings in New Haven and neighboring communities in the 24-hour period that started Thursday morning, according to police. There are two confirmed fatalities in New Haven, and at least one more from “out of town,” police said. West Haven and Shelton have also reported a case or cases, police said.

New Haven Police Chief Dean Esserman, center, speaks at a press conference at the New Haven Police Department on Friday concerning the spike in synthetic drug overdoses in New Haven and surrounding towns.

New Haven Police Chief Dean Esserman, center, speaks at a press conference at the New Haven Police Department on Friday concerning the spike in synthetic drug overdoses in New Haven and surrounding towns.

But judging by the reactions of patients Thursday, officials said Friday, they think there is something else in the mix, something they were unfamiliar with, that they had to send out for testing.

“This isn’t just fentanyl, this is something in combination with that. (It) is causing havoc in patient’s lungs,” D’Onofrio said. “Their oxygen levels went down very far, they were breathing very heavily, and they needed to have artificial respirations in place, several of them are now on machines and in our ICUs.”

D’Onofrio said it is unusual to see almost everyone experience the same reaction, which was the case with the approximately 20 patients seen by Yale Thursday.

New Haven police detectives are investigating the chain of events that led to the overdoses. Patients who spoke with police yesterday said they thought they were buying cocaine, not heroin.

Police Chief Dean Esserman said Friday they now need the community’s help to get the word out in order to keep people alive.

“We need to save lives in New Haven. We need to save our own people’s lives,” Esserman said.

Assistant Fire Chief Matthew Marcarelli said department members started to respond to what they suspected were overdoses around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. There were several individual cases where patients were not breathing.

Around 3:30 p.m. the 911 center got more calls, at Bowen Field across from Hillhouse High School. A call that started with two unconscious victims in a car turned to five victims as more were found in another car nearby. It was at that call when Marcarelli said they knew there was more to the story and suspected a link in the cases.

The drug the patients took was so strong, several needed multiple doses of Narcan, an overdose reversal medication. The city’s supply of Narcan was depleted Thursday as firefighters responded to more calls throughout the evening, but it saved the lives of all except two victims here who died after going into cardiac arrest.

Fire and EMS officials have prepared their staff with an extra supply of the opiate antidote.

All the victims were taken to the hospital. Police did not release the names of the victims, but Marcarelli said their ages range from the early 20s to the late 40s.

The calls began to slow down around 10 p.m. Thursday and there was one more overdose Friday morning, according to police.

Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly joined officials from police, fire, city, and other emergency and health departments in warning the public of the drug emergency.

“This is new and I want cocaine users to be forewarned. When they think they are buying just cocaine, they are not in these cases,” Daly said. “The ‘cocaine’ was in fact a lethal opioid.”

Police had noted that as the investigation has not yet been concluded, “any such drug should be considered deadly.”

“There is also no reason to suspect there are any boundaries to how far the tainted drugs have been sold or distributed,” police spokesman Officer David Hartman said in a release.

Daly said all the departments will work together to find the source of the drug and to keep the public informed and safe.

“Everybody is on this and I want you to be assured of that,” she said.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pledged whatever support the state can provide.

“This is a very dangerous situation and one that we are taking seriously. Everyone must recognize that no region of the country, state, city or town is immune — this affects all of us and so many families across our state and nation. That’s why we have been doing everything in our power to stop this epidemic and prevent tragedy, including the recent passage of a series of legislative actions addressing this situation,” Mallow said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, in a release Friday termed the New Haven emergency “a wakeup call” and said “we must take action,” including wider availability of the opioid antidote drug naloxone.

“Today’s public health emergency declaration is another reminder that the opioid and overdose epidemic requires a response from all levels of government. We must give first responders the support and resources they need, which includes ensuring that they have enough Naloxone to address this crisis,” DeLauro said in the release. “While Connecticut allows pharmacists to distribute Naloxone, Connecticut must join other states and make this lifesaving resource more widely available. There are far too many barriers to receiving treatment and Governor (Dannel) Malloy should work with the state Department of Health to address this issue immediately.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., in a release, also spoke of the need for wider availability of naloxone, or Narcan.

“We have a crisis on our hands and Connecticut families should not have to wait any longer for us to fix it,” said Murphy. “Yesterday’s tragic string of overdoses was proof that we need more resources to stock life-saving drugs like naloxone, we need better prevention programs, and we to improve coordination between government agencies and health care providers to curb this epidemic. I won’t stop fighting until Connecticut gets the funding and support it needs to put an end to this crisis and save lives.”

Specifically, Murphy, a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has pushed for passage of his “Mental Health Reform Act,” which he said would expand federal resources and improve coordination for mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.

Anyone with information can contact the New Haven police on their anonymous tip line at 203-946-6098. Residents and families can get Narcan from the local health department by calling 203-901-7687 for more information.